Counsyl Test to Prevent Diseases Like Those in 'Extraordinary Measures' Now at 100+ Medical Centers

Genetic diseases like those seen in the new Harrison Ford movie "Extraordinary Measures" can now be prevented with a simple saliva test which is free with insurance for more than 100 million Americans.
The movie centers on the real-life efforts of the Crowleys, a family trying to find a cure for a rare genetic disease affecting two of the family’s three children. The condition wasn’t detected until after their children were born.
Now, couples can take a Universal Genetic Test before pregnancy to determine whether their baby is at risk for more than 100 life-threatening genetic diseases. At-risk couples may then use a well-understood procedure called IVF/PGD to protect their child from genetic disease and ensure a healthy pregnancy.
This Universal Genetic Test was invented by scientists and social entrepreneurs from Stanford and Harvard and brought to the public via a Stanford startup named Counsyl (counsyl.com). As Newsweek recently reported:
“What is the secret to improving public health while cutting costs? The question has consumed Washington, but it's being answered elsewhere, by doctors offering a new test for more than 100 rare recessive genes, some of which cause fatal diseases. The test, [offered by] Counsyl, lets potential parents assess their genomes to see if their future kids are at risk. ... This is as preventive as medicine gets: the test could eliminate all single-recessive-gene diseases.”
The test is now offered by physicians at more than 100 prestigious medical centers across the United States, including Yale Fertility Center (see counsyl.com/map), and has attracted the support of prominent academics, bioethicists, religious leaders, families with genetic disease, and doctors from America’s largest hospitals.